Nexus
by Fluehatraya
Summary: [AU] Kazuha was average. Then she encountered Kudo Shinichi: the famous high school detective who mysteriously vanished ten years ago. The catch? It's his ghost, and she's the only one who can hear or see him. Now thrown into a world of crime and unscrupulous organizations with her childhood friend, Heiji, she can't return to her normal life until Shinichi is free to pass on.
1. The Girl and the Ghost

**Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.**

Nexus

Chapter One: The Girl and the Ghost

Kazuha crossed through the park, tote bag loaded with groceries hoisted over a shoulder and her hair – held back into its usual ponytail today by a blue ribbon – swinging in tune to her jaunty steps. It was a lovely day, unseasonable this late in autumn, and it marked an entire week that she wasn't on the scene of or dragged to (by Heiji, of course) a murder! They were becoming worryingly common as of late, almost as bad as infamous Beika had been.

Not that she liked thinking about it; it made it seem like the police, such as her father and Heiji's, weren't doing their work properly. But really, even though a high percentage of the culprits were caught, there was little consolation in that fact – it didn't do any good for the victims, after all.

Realizing the path her thoughts were going down, Kazuha scowled.

"Dat ahou! He has ta ruin a perfectly fine day even when he ain't here!" She paused, stamping a foot on the ground and not even paying any heed to the looks she was drawing. A chuckle not far behind and to the left of Kazuha drew her attention, and she whirled around to glare at the source: a teenage boy with bright blue eyes and a stupid cowlick who was seated on a nearby bench.

The guy just calmly raised an eyebrow in response to the look Kazuha sent him, an infuriatingly amused smirk at her expense still plastered over his face. Kazuha felt one of her eyes twitch, nostrils flaring to draw in a deep breath that only calmed her a little. It wouldn't do to lash out at another teen (unless he was Heiji) just because he found her outburst humorous, even if she really wanted to wipe that look off his face.

"What're ya starin' at?" she demanded instead with an underlining tone of warning like storm clouds congregating on the horizon.

The boy went wide-eyed, lower jaw slackening to hang down and complete the expression of perfect shock.

"What am I staring at? What are _you_ staring at?" he said in bewilderment after finding his tongue. Kazuha took note of his dialect, which sounded like it was from somewhere around Tokyo. At any rate, it certainly wasn't from Osaka.

Setting her groceries down, Kazuha took a couple of steps closer to the bewildered teen and set her arms akimbo.

"What are ya, slow? Obviously I'm starin' at ya! Do ya see anyone else I could possibly be talkin' ta?" she gestured with a sweep of her arm to indicate that, save for some people that were off some distance away, they were the only two individuals present in the immediate area.

The stranger was silent for several moments, with a gawking expression that left Kazuha wondering if she had broken his brain.

"You can actually see me? Hear me, even?" he finally replied incredulously.

"Uh, yeah. What're ya supposed ta be; a ghost?"

"Actually, yes." And with that the boy that Kazuha had directed her ire at rose up from the bench and _floated_ towards her. So, of course, the taken aback girl did what any sensible person would; that is, shriek loudly and stumble back with her arms flung over her head. Not that doing so would do any good against a ghost, as she found out when the specter attempted grabbing her wrists in response, only for his hands to pass through and leave a sensation akin to cool vapor licking her skin. Goose bumps rose into existence on the spot and quickly spread over her entire body.

"Alright, maybe I was a little too forward, but could you please just calm down! I'm not going to harm you, and in any case you're going to cause a scene."

Kazuha hesitantly opened an eye at the entreaty. She peeked through the gap between her still-raised arms and saw that the ghost had retreated to maintain some distance from her. He didn't look too concerned by that last part, though. If anything he seemed frustrated and he glanced back and forth between his hands and the frightened girl.

Caught by his expression, Kazuha lowered her arms until she was tightly holding her hands nervously at stomach-level without realizing it. Come to think of it, he had seemed so surprised that she knew he was there. Could he not . . .

"So, yer really a ghost?"

Kazuha was not a fan of anything preternatural, but there was something, dare she say it, _human_ about this specter other than just his shape. It was hard feeling afraid of him when he seemed more like a guy her age than anything else.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Was his grudging response, as if he was reluctant to admit in his own existence. Kazuha considered this, wondering whether it was the verity of ghosts or that he still continued to exist in such a state.

She shoved the thought out of mind not a moment later, refusing to ponder such a morose topic.

"Wait a moment; dat sounds like somethin' Heiji's said before. Dat's from some sort a' detective books, right?" she mused aloud as the thought occurred to her, unaware of the effect that her words were having on her companion. Returning her attention to him, she then saw how the ghost's demeanor had visibly brightened, and upon seeing his beaming face Kazuha wondered how she could have possibly been scared of him. Although she also noticed now for the first time that his coloring was faded and that a hint of the background could be seen through his incorporeal form.

"Sherlock Holmes, _The Sign of Four_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of course! You're familiar with it?" he inquired.

"Passingly. Heiji's more a fan a' Ellery Queen," here the otherworldly entity scoffed, "but he's prattled on about Sherlock Holmes more dan enough."

"First-name basis?" he teased, grinning widely and not dropping it even when Kazuha gave him a withering look.

"If ya must know, he's my childhood friend, nothin' more!" she denied the unspoken accusations, watching curiously as the spirit's face contorted with different emotions, too rapidly to place a name to any, before shortly settling into a bored visage. Despite this, she could discern a far-off look in his eyes. Kazuha fell silent, trying to figure out why such a simple thing to say got such a reaction of nostalgia. In the end, Kazuha decided that it was easier to pretend she never saw, just as she ignored the many other disturbing implications about her new . . . acquaintance? . . . whatever he was, that she didn't want to confront. After all, a ghost . . . that was enough said right there.

Fortunately, the ghost was the one who deemed it fit to navigate their conversation back to safer waters.

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is way better." Kazuha sighed heavily in response to his childish response and rubbed her temples in circular motions to stave off a developing headache. Was it her fate that all the boys her age – even dead ones – were to be mystery-obsessed geeks with little to no social skills?

A low murmuring caught her attention, and looking around she saw that a few people had stopped and were staring at her. Although it was difficult to tell since, though the ghost kept a respectful distance from her, they weren't that far apart, Kazuha was sure she was the only one drawing attention; further evidence of her earlier suspicions that she alone was aware of the ghost.

Blushing from the awkward situation, Kazuha abruptly picked up her abandoned groceries, mumbling irately to herself when she realized that the milk might not be good anymore considering how long she had dawdled.

"Come with me, dis is embarrassin'," Kazuha paused, "you can leave here, right? I mean, yer not bound here or anythin'?"

"No, I'll come! Trust me, Osaka is actually pretty far from where I died, but I've been considerably further, thankfully," the ghost was quick to reassure as he floated up to Kazuha's side. It made Kazuha wonder how long he had been like this. It couldn't have been that long, as a cursory glance revealed his fashion sense to be fairly recent, but then again, maybe ghosts could change into different outfits.

He didn't seem accustomed to people knowing he was there, at any rate. It hit her that being a ghost must have been lonely. And to think, she would have never known he wasn't anything other than another ordinary human if not for pure chance.

The walk back to Kazuha's home was pretty silent, both due to her epiphany and seeing as they were still in public. As she walked thoughts tripped over one another as they ran through her mind, and were centered around such things as: I hope dad isn't upset about my being late or the milk; is it really that smart to show the ghost of a teenage boy that I've just met my house; and, most importantly, where and how would one obtain ghost clothing?

**Line Break**

Kazuha arrived home to the sight of her father heading out.

"Dad, are ya goin' somewhere?"

"Yeah, one a' my old friends from outta town is here and we decided ta have a couple a' beers together like we used ta. You sure took yer time gettin' home; Heiji drag ya off somewhere?" he asked, pausing in his departure to talk to his daughter.

"No, I got distracted. Sorry," Kazuha explained sheepishly, deciding that the cause of her distraction – the ghost currently watching their interaction from the side – was better left unsaid.

"Just remember ta stay safe." With that, Kazuha's father left.

"Your father works in law enforcement. He practices judo and is skilled at it, am I right?" the ghost spoke up suddenly, nearly making Kazuha jump out of her skin.

"Waaah! Don't do dat! And for dat matter, how da heck did ya know? Are ya usin' some sorta freaky ghost powers? Or maybe you've secretly been stalkin' me," the girl accused him, eyes narrowed with suspicion. To this the response was a derisive snort.

"Really? I have better things to do than stalk typical teenage girls, though I suppose that's different now that I know you're capable of seeing and hearing me. Nor did I use any 'freaky ghost powers,'" and here he looked offended, "especially when my talents extend beyond being dead."

Kazuha flushed, not having meant to imply that at all. Not sure what to say to such an accusation, she settled for whipping around and entering the house. Her undead guest followed after, taking in the house, which was strongly modeled after a more traditional fashion, though it was clearly modern.

"So den, how did ya know?" Kazuha asked curiously as she sat down in the sitting room, making a gesture to invite the specter to do the same. He took the seat opposite from her, though she could see that instead of sitting he was actually levitating above the cushioned surface nearly imperceptibly.

"By looking at him. He holds himself strictly as if it were second-nature, suggesting some job with a lot of authority and regulation to it, while at the same time he interacts familiarly enough with you that it indicates he's not gone from home for frequent extended lengths of time. This means he is probably in law enforcement. As for judo, it was clear he had an athletic build despite his age, and being in the Japanese police he would probably know either judo or kendo. Since I didn't notice any callouses where I would expect some to be on his hands from practicing kendo, this left judo." he explained, smirking at the girl's look of awe as he explained his deduction.

"You got all dat just by lookin' at him? Heiji would love ta meet ya!" Kazuha exclaimed, before she shivered. She could already imagine the ghost and her ahou detective friend becoming acquainted. They would probably rave about murders and fictional detectives and act all creepy by narrating the entire lives of passing strangers.

"Who would I love ta meet? Were ya talkin' ta somebody?" a voice laced with curiosity spoke up, and Kazuha turned around to see Heiji striding into the room, coming to stand beside his seated friend with an eyebrow raised in inquiry.

She gulped, lips parting but words abandoning her. What was she supposed to say? That she had found a lighter-skinned, ghost version of him?

A slapping sound drew her attention to the specter, who had just facepalmed and was now giving her an unimpressed, 'you are an idiot' expression. Glancing away from him and back to Heiji, Kazuha realized in mortified horror that yes, she had just said that aloud.

**A/N: Yes, another AU (I'm much too fond of them; in my defense, this was started before A Familiar Situation). If I get any details wrong then please correct me, especially in regards to anything Japanese. This chapter was originally meant to be longer, but . . . meh. Didn't feel like it. Besides, this has been sitting in my computer for months, so might as well upload it while debating with myself whether or not I should upload the second (and completed) chapter of A Familiar Situation.**


	2. Greeting the Dead

**Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.**

Nexus

Chapter Two: Greeting the Dead

"Eh, Heiji, what're ya doin'?" Kazuha asked confusedly as Heiji pulled out his cellphone and punched in the keys.

"Hello, I'm callin' ta institutionalize my friend. She's gone crazy and is claimin' ta see ghosts– OW! Kazuha, what was dat for!" Heiji hollered as the cellphone was slapped out of his hold and went clattering across the room by his wide-eyed childhood friend, who had snapped quickly into action and was now breathing heavily as she glared at him. He was almost intimidated as she seemed to tower over him despite his greater height. Only almost.

The ghost was watching the interaction between the two Osakans with interest, looking as if he was gripping the edge of his seat and leaning forward. He couldn't actually do so, but being dead hadn't beaten living actions out of him, and as a ghost there wasn't much limit to the kind of poses he could adopt in midair.

"I'm not crazy!"

"It was just a joke, ya nutter; I didn't actually call a freakin' institution! But seriously, what da heck is up with ya? Ghosts don't exist!

"Dat wasn't funny!" A sheen that Heiji didn't like the looks of came to Kazuha's eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Sheesh!" he ran a hand through his hair, relieved to see that his friend was starting to calm down.

"Umm, this is really awkward," the third-party, unseen and unheard by one of the individuals in the room, commented with a grimace. Kazuha rubbed at her temples with her fingers, nearly ready to kick herself for forgetting that the ghost was there. First that comment she had blurted out, and now this! She knew she had a tendency to shut out everything else when she got into a bout with Heiji, but she still felt ready for the strange day to end and have everything snap back to status quo next time she woke up.

"Oi, earth ta Kazuha, ya okay? Yer not comin' down with anythin', are ya?" Heiji watched concernedly as his childhood friend attempted to stave off a developing headache. Maybe she really was going crazy.

"Perfectly fine," she heaved a heavy sigh. Feeling calmed down, she let her arms drop and peeled her eyes open after having squeezed them shut.

"So, what was dat thing ya were goin' on about ghosts anyway?"

Kazuha hesitated. Here was her chance: she could just say it was nothing, perhaps just a daydream, and drop the topic. But . . . her eyes slid to rest on her spectral guest, biting her lower lip when his eyes locked with on her own. Though he appeared casual enough, there was a palpable apprehension to him, like electricity humming in the air and snapping at skin.

She had a reasonable excuse . . . but doing that would be like invalidating his existence. If his only connection to the world was her, and she rejected that, would that be like taking away the fact that he was real? She tried to imagine being in the ghost's position, nothing but a spectator as everything changed around him.

Groaning, Kazuha looked away from the seemingly empty chair and shook her head, ponytail lashing against the back of her head. Thinking about all this philosophical stuff hurt her head. Heck, maybe Heiji was right – maybe the ghost wasn't real, and she was going crazy! Why now, of all times, would she run into a lost spirit anyways?

_Den again, ya thought dat he was alive when ya first met him. _Some logical part of her reasoned; it could have been that she'd come across ghosts before, and had just never known it. Doubtful, but who knew?

What she did know was that it wouldn't be fair if the ghost was real and she denied it. As much as she wanted to explain it away – perhaps as a hallucination on which she could blame her subconscious for his being a detective-geek and knowing all that stuff about her dad – Kazuha was not quite eager about something going wrong in her brain.

Couldn't it just be enough that, if nothing else, he was real enough for her to interact with? Perhaps–

"Kazuha! Kazuha! Oi, are ya in dere?" Heiji's increasingly frantic – and loud – voice next to one of her ears cut through her tangled thoughts, and also caused her to stumble back with a startled exclamation that ended with her collapsing into a couch.

"Ya ahou, were ya tryin' ta make me deaf!" Kazuha sprung from the couch, placing a hand on her chest as she tried to get her breathing under control.

"Ya started actin' all funny, shakin' yer head and mumblin' under yer breath! And ya still have yet ta answer my question." Heiji was back to his old self, seeing that Kazuha was acting normal again.

"I should have brought popcorn; this is almost like watching a soap opera," the spirit mumbled to himself, leaning back in the chair and placing his hands behind his head as he watched the bickering childhood friends.

The girl, Kazuha was nice enough, he supposed – didn't particularly strike him as anything special (besides having an apparent sixth sense), but at least she had been willing to put aside her initial fear of him, once discovering his undead nature, to accept his presence.

That was priceless. Humans were social creatures, and solitude could drive even the most misanthropic person stir-crazy. It was funny, the simple things a person took for granted when they had them, and the way they could be desired above all else once lost.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of this Heiji fellow. He had heard the name and the events connected to it during his recent excursion in Osaka, though obviously that couldn't give him insight into the individual himself. So far, his opinion mostly consisted of: rash and insensitive. Reflecting on it though, perhaps that was superficial. At any rate, it was obvious to anyone who wasn't an emotional dunce that the guy was genuinely concerned for Kazuha.

The ghost sighed and shifted in his chair, propping an arm on a knee and resting his head in hand. His stomach felt like it was curling in upon itself, disregarding that he hadn't eaten in a long time. Because of him, he had gotten two close friends into a fight. (Only later would he discover that fights were completely normal in their relationship.)

And yet he couldn't help but be unrepentant. The dead young man wasn't going to forfeit the company of the first person that was aware of him.

He watched Kazuha fumble in trying to voice her answer to Heiji's demanding inquiry, seeking a prudent way to put it and failing in the endeavor. Finally she just came out with it, much like how she had spilled her guts before about the existence of her spectral guest.

"It's true, Heiji! Ghosts exists, or at least, dis one does," Kazuha insisted, much to an unimpressed teen detective. Unnoticed by either teen, the ghost being referred to covered his face – and his broadening smile – with a hand.

"Really, Kazuha? I know yer superstitious, but dis is a bit . . ." he trailed off, startled by the imploring look for him to believe her that Kazuha was giving him. His forehead ticced, making one of his eyebrows twitch. She wasn't about to start crying if he continued saying no, was she?

Seeing that Kazuha was not relenting, Heiji sighed, shoulders slumping.

"Yer not gonna let up on dis, are ya?"

The girl insistently shook her head, the very way she stood exemplifying how stubborn she was going to be about this.

"I don't believe ya," Heiji was quick to continue upon seeing his friend open her mouth, "but I s'pose we can do a test."

"A test?" Kazuha blinked, not expecting this.

"Yeah, since it's clear neither o' us are gonna back down from dis, one o' us is gonna have ta make our point. If ya win, den yer ghost exists and ain't just an imaginary friend from yer screwy mind," Kazuha glared at Heiji with such ferocity that he was surprised he didn't spontaneously combust, "but if I win, ya've gotta admit dat yer ghost isn't real."

Heiji seemed to consider something before adding in,

"And seek help. Ya shouldn't be seein' and hearin' things dat other people can't."

Kazuha inhaled sharply, looking down as trepidation took root in her. What if she accepted this and didn't win? Would it then be true that there was something very wrong with her?

As if reading her mind, the ghost spoke up,

"There's no question about it, is there? Just accept his deal; it's the best you get. You are going to prove his doubts wrong if you do."

"But what if I don't? What if I lose?" Kazuha redirected her attention to the undead teen, heedless of Heiji as he took in her response to nothing but air. His eyebrows had risen and he was being uncharacteristically silent, for a change.

"Barou, if you do, then clearly you need help and should get it. No matter what the outcome, you can't possibly lose. It's better to acknowledge and undergo treatment for a disorder than deny it as if admitting you have a problem is something bad." He rolled his eyes.

"I suppose yer right," she admitted grudgingly and turned to face the darker-skinned boy of the two in her family's sitting room.

"How're we s'posed ta test it?"

"Well, tell me 'bout yer ghost. Can it–"

"He," Kazuha interjected, receiving a grateful smile from the translucent teen. He had left his seat, coming to float at the girl's side.

"–fine, _he_," Heiji amended with a scowl, "move around independently? See things and speak? What about movin' things?"

"All but the last, as you already know," the ghost said this to Kazuha, who already recalled this from what she had witnessed.

"Except for movin' things, he can do all dat."

"Okay, dat's enough ta work with."

Kazuha watched curiously as her friend pulled a small notebook along with a pencil stub out from one of his jacket pockets. Glancing suspiciously at her, Heiji turned his back to Kazuha and proceeded to scrawl something down. With a tearing sound he liberated a page, holding it close to his chest and shiftily proceeding into one of the adjoining rooms.

"Oi, Heiji! Mind tellin' me what da heck yer doin'?" She called after him, irate at his obviously furtive antics.

He returned a moment later.

"Tell me what it was I wrote down without seein' da note. Have yer ghost tell ya," Heiji challenged, blissfully oblivious to the way the undead teen smiled at the simple request. Kazuha gulped, noting that it was not a particularly friendly one, and at that moment she started recalling unbidden the many ghost stories she had heard.

Mimicking walking, the ghost strode toward Heiji, going straight through him instead of around. Kazuha flinched at the freaky sight, unnoticed by Heiji who, at that moment, nearly leapt out of his skin as if shocked before vigorously rubbing his arms. Wide-eyed, he looked around, turning to look behind him with a startled expression. Then he looked back at Kazuha, appearing as if he'd eaten something unpleasant.

"Feelin' cold, Heiji?" Kazuha inquired innocuously. Heiji opened, shut, and then opened his mouth again.

"Must've just been a breeze or somethin'," he explained, only for Kazuha to take in the closed windows of the room with a raised eyebrow and an unimpressed expression.

The spirit returned, eliciting a snicker from Kazuha when he reached out and tickled the back of Heiji's neck with his ghostly fingers as he walked around him. Heiji's visage twisted into a grimace, clenching his teeth when they chattered. Hearing Kazuha's small laughter, he glared at her, though he was now clearly displaying uncertainty for the first time concerning his pseudo-girlfriend's claim.

"Well, what did I write?"

Kazuha turned to the ghost.

"Ghosts existing is as likely as Kazuha having some sense knocked into that thick skull of hers," he obliged. Redirecting her attention to Heiji, his dark complexion became slightly paler at her currently demonic face. He blanched considerably more when she repeated the phrase he had wrote down, every word dropping ominously like a stone as she uttered them.

"Okay, I think I believe ya," Heiji was quick to claim in an attempt to distract Kazuha and thus pacify her ire before she could unleash it on him.

"Dat easily?" The ghost-aware girl was clearly surprised, undoubtedly convinced that she would have to do more than just that to make Heiji believe her.

"Well, not really," Heiji admitted, "Ya could've used a trick, made dis some elaborate set-up."

"Must ya look for an explanation ta everythin'? Not everythin' can be explained like yer murder cases! And why would I do dat, when I didn't even know ya were comin'? What possible motive could I have had?" Her voice rose as she spoke. The ghost, an uncomfortable observer of their interaction, inched away from the two.

"Well jeez, I don't know! Maybe 'cause ya want ta make me believe in ghosts like ya do." Even to Heiji's ears the excuse was a feeble one, and it frustrated him that he couldn't think of a logical reason for her to know what the note had said. Not to mention those sudden chills – his skin prickled just remembering the eerie sensation.

"I wouldn't do somethin' like dat! Whatever happened ta nothin' is impossible, merely improbably?" Kazuha echoed the ghost's words from earlier, taking Heiji aback.

"Come on, Heiji, just believe me! How hard can it be ta trust yer childhood friend? And ya said dat if I won den my ghost exists! Well, I did, and now ya have ta admit dat he's real!" Kazuha continued pressing her case, and finally Heiji conceded.

"Fine, ya got me; yer ghost exists." Heiji sounded pained to admit that.

Kazuha beamed.

"_Finally._ Now for introductions: Heiji, dis is . . ." realizing she didn't know the ghost's name, Kazuha blushed; not quite the smoothest of introductions.

"Err, what is yer name?" she asked him, relieved to see that he appeared amused instead of offended.

"Kudo Shinichi."

"Right. Heiji, dis is Kudo Shinichi; Kudo-kun, dis is Hattori Heiji."

"Nice to meet you," Shinichi the ghost said genially, but with a wry smirk to the living teen boy. Occurring to Kazuha that Heiji wouldn't be able to hear the greeting, Kazuha relayed it to her friend.

"Uh, Heiji?" she inquired when he didn't respond at all.

Instead, he was gaping at the apparently empty (to him) space where Shinichi was approximately hovering.

**Line Break**

**A/N: Well, sorry this took so long to upload – I meant to upload much earlier, but life became **_**super**_** inconvenient. (And aaaaaah, no access to a computer in ages, and then internet connection issues!) Needless to say, I'm exhausted. Anyways, I'll try to upload more of this story within a month's time, granting that I have the free time to write, to make up for it.**

**I had fun writing this (but ugh, a chapter consisting almost entirely of what used to be my greatest enemy: dialogue), but I'm not sure how the characters (especially Kazuha) and dialogue came out, so I'd really appreciate some feedback (and I take every review into consideration).**


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